Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 2, 1990 TAG: 9006020396
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He faces up to 40 years in prison.
Thomas, 33, admitted in Roanoke Circuit Court to distributing cocaine, even though he said he was so strung out on drugs that he can't remember whether he did or not.
In summarizing the evidence, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Mac Doubles said Thomas sold one $25 rock of crack cocaine to an undercover police officer the night of Jan. 5.
The deal was struck on the 2500 block of Centre Avenue Northwest, a residential area known as an open-air crack market.
Thomas was a star running back at Fleming before going on to play at Virginia Union University and then briefly at the professional level for the Philadelphia Eagles, according to his attorney, Eric Spencer. He came within six credit hours of receiving a college degree.
His name was handed down to a nephew, Ronny "Judge" Grogan - a star running back at Fleming in 1987 who appeared destined to follow in his uncle's footsteps.
And in a way, he did.
Authorities have said that Grogan was well into the crack business by the time he was killed the night of Feb. 1, 1989, in a drug-related shooting at the Lincoln Terrace housing project. A suspect was arrested, but the charges were later dropped for lack of sufficient evidence.
At Friday's hearing, Thomas said he was pleading guilty because the commonwealth's evidence suggested that he was - not because he remembers the crime well enough to admit to it.
Thomas has been in jail since May 9, when his bond was revoked after a drug test showed that he had been using cocaine since his arrest. He was returned to jail Friday to await sentencing.
by CNB